Abstract [en]

Starting from the late 1950s, the regimes of newly decolonized African countries sought to kick-start development with assistance from Western donors. Using Kenya as case study, this paper discusses development policy and socio-technical change in African urban water management using the theoretical concepts of 'technology domain' (W. Brian Arthur) and 'reverse salient' (Thomas P Hughes). The paper argues that ideals of modernization and progress in the decolonized Africa set the stage for a systemic mismatch between the Western technological paradigm and its African social and hydrological contexts. It further argues that improving social and environmental sustainability of urban water management requires changes in incentive structure and social power relations, including those with donor organizations.